Open Textbooks Research Articles

Assessment of trend and current pattern of open educational resources: A bibliometric analysis

The educational landscape has changed tremendously with the arrival of open educational resources (OER) and has become a mission-driven trend within the scientific literature. In the current study, bibliometric analysis and an analysis of the challenges and limitations of the research articles on recent developments in the field of OER were performed. Scopus was chosen as the prime source for collecting bibliographical data, focusing on five sub-themes, i.e., open textbook, open online course, open courseware, open-source software related to open education, and open social learning. Bibliometric analyses were made based on several aspects, including research trend, research subject distribution, journals, institutions, countries/territories, and authors. This paper summarizes the growth structure of OER from 2002 to 2020 and provides a concise background overview of the works related to OER, barriers, and challenges.

Awareness and Future Use of Open Educational Resources by Music Faculty

As teaching and learning experiences broaden to include more technological innovations, methods of instruction and resource flexibility are becoming increasingly important for educators and students. Open educational resources (OER) have gained international appeal for such flexibility, and post-secondary institutions are at the forefront of creating access to them. Although research related to OER has increased, few researchers have focused on OER in music instruction. In my cross-sectional survey of music faculty in the United States ( N = 409), I found that music faculty were generally unaware of OER although most participants would consider adopting an open textbook for a course. Motivating factors for adoption included ease of use and decreased costs for students, whereas time and financial support would be necessary for adoption to be feasible.

Making open source textbooks, and diagrams with AlDraTex

Making open source textbooks, and diagrams with AlDraTex

Of teachers and textbooks: lower secondary teachers' perceived importance and use of chemistry textbook components

According to research findings from all over the world, textbooks play an important role for teachers in the choice of methods, content and educational goals. However, the open textbook market, where the state's influence is limited, results in a significant gap between the state (written) curriculum and actual classroom practice. To understand this phenomenon in more detail, teachers’ (N = 387) conception of lower-secondary chemistry textbooks was evaluated, based on their perception and use of particular textbook components. Data obtained with an online questionnaire were subjected to a thorough analysis using CRISP-DM data mining methodology. The results showed a high consistency in chemistry teachers’ perception of textbooks and also that only a limited number of textbook components are frequently being used in teaching practice. The vast majority of teachers mentioned using textbook content to prepare lessons, which indicated textbooks’ influence over lesson content. The other most frequently used components are graphical representations, questions and tasks. Textbook components which can be used to apply a student-centred approach are considered less important by the majority of teachers, which confirms the persisting teacher-centred approach in chemistry teaching. The results also helped identify textbook components whose innovation could have the highest impact on education (educational illustrations, structured text, photographs and tasks). This study therefore sheds more light on chemistry teaching, as well as bringing important knowledge to new textbook authors. The data mining methodology proved useful in this sort of research, showing multiple relations which would not be considered in standard data analysis.

Participation in OER Creation: A Trajectory of Values

This paper provides an analysis of interviews with seven faculty members who engaged in creating Open textbooks funded by government grants at a university in Canada in 2018. Using four values—access and equity, community and connection, agency and ownership, and risk and responsibility—identified by Sinkinson (2018), McAndrew (2018), and Keyek-Fransen (2018), we traced the ways in which university faculty members’ understanding of Open changed through the process of Open Educational Resource creation. As a teaching support-focused unit, we explore ways to provide our faculty and instructors with meaningful opportunities to develop their Open pedagogy. These findings reconceive the way that Open Educational Practice can be promoted at our University and others. Instead of focusing solely on OER creation, our faculty started engaging in thinking through the different conceptions of Open educational practice and identifying which concepts resonated with them. By reframing the ways in which faculty thought about Open Educational Practices, we have been better able to address the ways in which we support them.

Teaching Note—Adopting, Adapting, and Creating Open Textbooks: A Brief Guide for Faculty

ABSTRACT Across North America, the open education movement has blossomed in the past 10 years, with a majority of institutions of higher education employing open textbooks in at least one course. Unfortunately, social work lags behind other disciplines in the adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational resources. This teaching note offers practical advice for faculty exploring open education based on the lessons learned from the author’s two open textbook projects for undergraduate and graduate social work research methods. As universities, states, and international bodies increase funding for open education projects, the field of social work should demonstrate its commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice by leading these efforts within our classrooms, discipline, and institutions.

Not open for all: accessibility of open textbooks

In order for open educational resources (OERs) to be truly open to all, they must be accessible to learners with disabilities, including those with visual, auditory, physical and cognitive disabilities. This study sought to determine the accessibility of a randomly selected sample of 355 open textbooks using a custom rubric based upon the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), version 2.1, primarily at the Levels A and AA. Included books fell into one of four format types: HTML files/websites, PDFs, Microsoft Word documents and EPUBs. The average number of ‘fails’ – instances in which they ran afoul of a rubric category – across the whole sample was 5.93 and the median was 6, out of a total of 14 or 15 categories, depending on the format type. Overall, most of the books did not meet basic accessibility requirements, such as including alternative text for any images, properly coding/tagging any tables and following a logical heading order structure.

#Openteach: Open Course, Open Online Teaching, Open Textbook

This paper will explore the experiences of the #Openteach project team in developing a flexible and evidence based approach to support professional learning for those who teach online. The project had a number of phases, which included a needs analysis of online students and educators about effective online teaching, the publication of a review of the literature entitled Teaching Online is Different, and a pilot evaluation report. The #Openteach open course ran in March 2020 and focused on five key aspects of teaching online: social presence; facilitating discussion; collaboration online; live online teaching; and supporting online students. The final phase of the project involves the creation of an open textbook bringing together all of the project outputs, due for publication in summer 2021. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected from online educators pre and post the initiative, this paper reports on two aspects of the #Openteach project in detail: the design, development and delivery of the open online course and the process of creating the #Openteach open textbook.

OPEN PEDAGOGY: INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE IN TEACHING ABOUT NEW MEDIA

In the quest for independence from traditional media constraints, open pedagogy — involving students in the creation of openly licensed materials — offers training in open culture practices alongside deeper learning. Our research builds upon an exploratory study by Hilton et al. (2019). We collected quantitative and qualitative data about the experiences of 85 students participating in an open pedagogy course project: creating content for the open textbook Humans R Social Media (HRSM). We asked students to compare their experiences working on HRSM with traditional learning activities (e.g., writing papers, taking quizzes). About 66% of students said the HRSM project had greater educational value than traditional learning activities. Most students (54.1%) also reported that HRSM helped them master more core academic content, and 51.8% said the project helped them become more collaborative learners. Although a small percentage preferred traditional learning activities, most students reported that open pedagogy’s focus on agency and choice enabled them to share their individuality and creativity. We also found that students valued knowing their work could be shared beyond the classroom; and that publishing, in the words of one student, “gave me more incentive to make sure my assignments were my best product.” This study tentatively reinforces the benefits of independent, hands-on learning as well as collaborative interdependence in an online environment. These findings suggest the active nature of open pedagogy holds rich possibilities for cultivating participatory learning activities, involving students in the creation of knowledge as they learn, and cultivating interdependent connection and community.

The Rutgers University Libraries Open and Affordable Textbook (OAT) Program

The Rutgers University (RU) Open and Affordable Textbooks (OAT) Program provides $1,000 incentive awards to faculty who commit to redesigning or developing a course to use open or affordable course materials. This can include replacing a traditional textbook with open educational resources (OER), library-licensed materials, course reserves, self-developed materials, or a combination of these. It is a university-wide initiative, but this paper will focus on the impact on students in the health science programs. In many cases Health Sciences faculty went beyond using open educational resources by developing their own and making them freely available to their students and others. As of 2020 it is estimated students in the health sciences have saved $285,218 through the use of open materials and sustainable course design.

Opening up Educational Practices through Faculty, Librarian, and Student Collaboration in OER Creation: Moving from Labor-intensive to Supervisory Involvement

This article presents a case study for transitioning library-led open-educational resources (OER) initiatives away from labor-intensive activities to a model where library personnel focus on project management responsibilities. This shift from labour-intensive activities, such as workshops and training sessions, led to more collaborative partnerships with faculty and students to produce OER projects. In particular, we focus on labour implications for the various stakeholders involved and the sustainability of these initiatives. We describe several initiatives undertaken by the Ohio University Libraries to encourage open educational resource adoptions and projects, including a grant-funded initiative to provide support services for faculty creating OER. That funding, which was awarded to enhance undergraduate education, has been used to support the development of five OER projects that have directly involved students in the creation of those materials. We provide an overview of the various ways in which students have become involved in OER creation in partnership with faculty and librarians and discuss the impact these partnerships have had on student-faculty-librarian relationships and student engagement. Among these projects are an Hispanic linguistics open textbook created using only student-authored texts, student-generated test banks to accompany existing OER materials for a large-enrollment art history course, and several other projects in which hired student assistants are helping faculty to develop content for open textbooks. This article helps to address a gap in the literature by providing transparency regarding the personnel, costs, and workflow for Ohio University Libraries’ OER initiatives and addressing potential areas of concern surrounding student labour.

An OER Approach to Linear Algebra

In this work, we studied the use of open education resources (OER) in the form of online modules combined with an open textbook as it relates to student performance and perceptions in a Linear Algebra course. In this approach, we compared student performance and perceptions from three sections of this intermediate level mathematics course. One was taught in modular format with corresponding online exercises and textbook readings from open education resources while two other comparison sections were taught in a traditional lecture-based format where students purchased a textbook. We found that based on grades, student survey feedback, and instructor experience, students using the OER approach performed at least as well or better than students in the section using the traditional textbook. However, that preference may not affect a given student's choice of format for a subsequent course.

PREFERRED CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVE: TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

The (written) state curriculum is one of the cornerstones influencing education. Its specifically mediated by textbooks. In an open textbook market, the influence of the state curriculum is limited, and the main responsibility passes to individual schools or teachers. In order to understand education from the potential attainment of curriculum goals’ point of view, it is necessary to pay attention to the teachers’ textbook preferences. This research was focused on the field of lower-secondary chemistry education in Czechia, with special attention paid to the textbooks in use, their choice, and teachers’ perception of them. The data were gathered using a questionnaire distributed to a representative sample of 387 lower-secondary school chemistry teachers. The results showed that teachers favor traditional chemistry teaching conceptions. Most teachers stated that textbooks play a vital role for them when preparing lessons and new textbooks are mostly chosen by the most experienced teachers. Most teachers also expressed their preference for textbooks which contain subject-matter ordered according to the structure of chemistry, i.e. not adjusted for learners, as well as textbooks dominantly orientated towards the transmissive approach to education. Regarding the teachers’ perception of textbooks, potential limits were identified in implementing innovations in (chemical) education. Keywords: chemistry textbooks, lower-secondary school science education, teachers' teaching conception

The School Librarian's Role in the Adoption of Open Textbooks

Trends in adopting open educational resources (OER) in K-12 schools have opened numerous opportunities for schools to utilize their school librarians in new roles. The purpose of this study is to examine if schools are using their school librarians during the transition to OER use and if so, in what capacity. If not, why? In this study we used Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovation theory, which describes the importance of change agents in the successful adoption of an innovation. We used thematic analysis and descriptive statistics to examine the research questions. Participants include a sample of representatives from school districts, which have signed on to be a #GoOpen school. Our results show that less than half of the schools use their school librarians in the OER creation and adoption process, but many participants acknowledgeschool librarians possessed a specialized skill set which could be beneficial in future OER creation projects.

PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS IN HANDLING AND MANAGING OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES (OERs): BASIS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING PLAN

Objective. This study determined the perceptions of academic librarians on open educational resources (OERs) in terms of familiarity, utilization by patron and purpose, management practices of OERs in terms of handling and storage, organization and marketing, and problems encountered in handling and managing OERs. Methods. It utilized quantitative-qualitative research design or mixed method using a validated researcher-made questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, which mainly consist of frequency distribution, percentile, mean and standard deviation, were used while thematic analysis was utilized for the qualitative data. Results and Discussion. The study revealed that academic librarians are moderately aware on OERs. Regarding digitized library collections, academic librarians are fully aware. In terms of utilization by patron, it was reported that majority of the types of OERs are rarely utilized. The top three types which are seldom utilized by patrons are course materials, digitized library collections and open textbooks. Conclusions. The familiarity of librarians on OERs depends on the degree of their exposure to such resources. Utilization of OERs by patron improves when guided on how to use them. Purpose is defined based on the optimal usage of the OERs. Lack of familiarity and exposure to OERs may lead to poor handling and storage, organization and marketing of these resources resulting to low appreciation from clients. A capacity building plan is needed to improve the handling and management of OERs in academic libraries.

The Evolution of the Open Textbook Initiative

ABSTRACT In 2018, RMIT University Library was awarded $5,000 fellowship from Libraries of the Australasian Network (LATN) to investigate opportunities in open educational resources (OER). The reasons behind the application were to advocate and increase the use of OER, increase knowledge and expertise in open licencing, and leverage support, advice and appropriate infrastructure from LATN members. The associated benefits to LATN would include the establishment of an OER community of practice and the development of shared tools and resources to facilitate the uptake of open educational resources at home institutions. This is the story of how the Open Textbook Initiative evolved and how a deliberate campaign to increase awareness and adoption of OER was created. Activities included delivering OER awareness sessions, aligning OER textbooks with selected subject areas, delivering an open textbook forum, with local and international speakers, and creating a savings bank for self-reported OER adoptions. The OER textbook hero program was developed to highlight the teaching challenges faced by academic staff and explore their responses. As a result of this activity, there has been greater visibility of OER and the discussion has evolved from textbook affordability to open educational practices.

User Experience Testing in the Open Textbook Adaptation Workflow

As library publishers and open education programs grow, it is imperative that we integrate practices in our workflows that prioritize and include end users. Although there is information available on best practices for user testing and accessibility compliance, more can be done to give insight into the library publishing context. This study examines the user and accessibility testing workflow during the modification of an existing open textbook using Pressbooks at Texas Tech University.

Are Open Textbooks Effective for Learning? Investigating the Issue of Human-computer Interaction in Pedagogical Design of Open Textbook Affordable for a Diversity of Learning Environments

This article discusses the impact of human-computer interaction in the pedagogical design of open textbooks affordable into a diversity of learning environments. An exploratory study is conducted, wherein an online questionnaire is administered to the second-year master’s degree students from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Studies. The results show that students are aware of the importance of metacognition in developing effective learning strategies. Thus, they use metacognitive strategies when taking notes, doing reflections, and employing mnemonics to enhance understanding. However, despite the current practice of using open didactical materials, students feel that the open textbooks approach needs to be relooked and changed to be more effective; it could be equipped with appropriate learning tools to provide more opportunities for immediate feedback and collaborative assessment. Individualization and collaboration are the key factors in developing metacognitive experience. These findings indicate that students are cognizant of the important role of open textbooks in promoting learning.

Access, use and perceptions of open (free) and traditional textbooks: an exploratory comparative analysis of community college criminal justice courses

ABSTRACT This study examines community college students (N = 292) enrolled in introductory criminal justice courses, comparing access, use and perceptions of open education resource (OER) textbooks with traditional textbooks. Data were collected over three semesters from students in a large metropolitan city using an online survey. The sample pool is largely non-white and eligible for low income tuition assistance. The analysis uses survey data to explore the following: access (how, when, how much); use (when, where, how); and student perceptions of learning with digital resources (for OER courses). Findings are largely consistent with comparable research conducted on four year and community college specific samples. Compared with textbook courses, OER students are more likely to access the material within the first week of class, on phones or school computers, and find the material easier to obtain. They are also more likely to say they review more of the material, and are more likely to study on campus. These findings indicate that transition to OER course materials has no harmful impact and may serve community college students by removing a variety of impediments related to achieving academic success for the types of students served by community colleges.

Empowering digital learning with open textbooks.

This paper is in response to the article entitled “Open educational resources and college textbook choices: a review of research on efficacy and perceptions” (Hilton, 2016). In the article, Hilton synthesized the results of 16 studies, and proposed a statement that the decision to employ and adopt open textbooks in higher education has appeared to have financial benefits to students without decrease in their learning outcomes. This finding would strengthen credibility of open textbooks use and encourage faculty to utilize high-quality open textbooks in a post-pandemic world. However, only if teachers are willing to develop and use open textbooks can millions be saved for students and higher performance be achieved by students. Furthermore, from integrative model of behavior prediction, future research needs to probe a variety of issues relating to how teachers could be intentionally and effectively use open textbooks to empower the digital learning in the 21st century.